Creator Mike White seems to have struck gold with his hit show The White Lotus. Season 1 of HBO show received a whopping 20 Emmy nominations, including ones for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series. You can visit the Emmy website here for a full list of all the Emmy nominations. Indeed, with season one’s success, it was no surprise that a second season was announced. While The White Lotus season 2 will boast an entirely different cast, fans can expect similar plots and antics. What started as a limited series, turned into an anthology series, allowing for a new plot, location, and cast in each of its subsequent seasons, much like American Horror Story. The new season takes its main character to Sicily, Italy, and, per Variety, will be dropping on HBO Max in October.
The only cast member returning for the second season of The White Lotus is Jennifer Coolidge. Aubrey Plaza, Theo James, Michael Imperioli, Tom Hollander, F. Murray Abraham, and Haley Lu Richardson are among the new cast members. While not much has been announced about the new characters, the little we do know about the show can be read here. Just like the first season's cast, the new cast members are well known around Hollywood. Here’s a quick reminder of where you have seen the actors.
Jennifer Coolidge
Jennifer Coolidge is the lone cast member returning from the first season of The White Lotus. Her character, Tanya McQuoid will be back to take on a new story in Sicily. Coolidge has been around for a while, starring in hit movies and TV series. Perhaps her most iconic roles come from rom-coms like Legally Blonde and A Cinderella Story. She has also done voiceover work in shows like HBO Max's The Fungies and Gravity Falls. Coolidge had a long-standing role in the CBS comedy 2 Broke Girls, which ran from 2012 to 2017, and in the Friends spinoff, Joey. Another iconic role for the actress was, of course, in the American Pie films, where she played Stiffler's Mom.
Aubrey Plaza
Aubrey Plaza is arguably one of the bigger names to join The White Lotus cast in season 2. The actress is no stranger to TV series, after being a long-standing cast member on shows like Parks and Recreation and Legion. Plaza is also no stranger to comedic roles, having gone on to star in comedy films such as Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates and Dirty Grandpa. As both a strong comedic and TV series actress, fans are excited to see which side of Plaza they will get in the upcoming new season of The White Lotus. While the actress is best known for her comedic roles, she is well-versed in other genres as well. Her film Emily the Criminal saw a crime thriller role for the actress, in addition to her reoccurring role on the hit crime TV series Criminal Minds.
Theo James
Theo James is arguably best known for his role as Four in the popular dystopian novel series turned film franchise Divergent. His most recent role was within a limited series also produced by HBO Max called The Time Traveler's Wife, which just aired this past May. James has also worked in other TV shows, such as a reoccurring role in Sanditon and the animated Netflix series Castlevania. Voicework is another specialty of the actor, with a lead role in The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, an animated film about a witcher named Vesemir, whom James portrayed in an episode of the live-action series The Witcher, also on Netflix.
Michael Imperioli
Michael Imperioli is definitely a great name to add to the season 2 cast of The White Lotus. With a long and successful career in acting, Imperioli's character will certainly be another great role. Imperioli is best known for The Sopranos, where he played Christopher Motisanti, aka Tony Soprano's (James Gandolfini) protégé. It was this mafia-style role that helped define Imperioli's career as the actor went on to star in several mob-related films, such as Goodfellas and The Many Saints of New York, the latter in which he reprised his role from The Sopranos. Outside of mafia films, Imperioli has also starred in films like Summer of Sam, The Lovely Bones, and The Call.
Tom Hollander
Tom Hollander is one of those actors who has starred in a wide variety of films. While he may infrequently be the leading role, he tends to play characters who nonetheless leave an impression. Whether that is a good or a bad impression depends on the film. One of those such impressions was his role as the unwanted, awkward cousin of the Bennett sisters, who was to inherit the farm and wealth of the family in Pride & Prejudice. Another iconic role of Hollander's was the depressive and mostly angry playwright in About Time. Hollander has also starred in films like Gosford Park, Bohemian Rhapsody, and In The Loop. He is set to appear in the upcoming show Feud as well.
F. Murray Abraham
F. Murray Abraham is also no stranger to big roles, having starred in popular films and TV series such as The Grand Budapest Hotel and the MCU's Moon Knight. He has also appeared in other Disney films like the live-action Lady and the Tramp. Murray Abraham has been acting since the 70s. During his early career, he achieved roles in Scarface, Amadeus, and Mighty Aphrodite. His longest-standing role was a 43-episode stint in the Showtime series Homeland. The actor is also part of the AppleTV+ series Mythic Quest, which was last nominated in 2021 for two Primetime Emmy Awards.
Haley Lu Richardson
Haley Lu Richardson is the youngest in the main cast, both in terms of her career and age. The young actress is best known by her fun and quirky personality, which she has been able to bring to life in her roles. One of those such roles was the modern-day love story of two teens with Cystic Fibrosis who fall in love in Five Feet Apart. While the actress may be spunky off-screen, that doesn't mean she can't hold her own in serious roles like in Columbus and Split. It will be interesting to see which side of Richardson will appear in the new season of The White Lotus.